Dear Faith Family,
Mary has chosen the better portion,
which will not be taken away from her.
(Luke 10:42)
I don't know too many friends and followers of Jesus who would not say that they are after "the better portion" in their life of faith. What that better portion is and how they are going after it, now that's where these friends and followers have their differences!
The story of Martha and Mary (Luke 10:38-42) has, at least in modern times, pitted "the doers" against "the thinkers," those geared toward action against those geared toward contemplation, and perhaps worst of all, those inclined to service against those inclined to worship. "Are you a Martha or a Mary?" is a question asked either to convict a particular response or as an indicator of personality type. Yet, as Dylan pointed out to us on Sunday, the sad irony of our misguided reduction of this story is that we have separated and put into conflict the singular image of a disciple of Jesus our scriptures give us: a person who hears and obeys, who sits a the feet of Jesus and follows him into action, because they are a child of God.
The true question the story of Martha and Mary demands we ask is: "What is keeping us from taking full advantage of the better portion?"
As we discovered on Sunday, "portion" means "inheritance." Specifically, in the context of our scriptures and story, an inheritance was not something earned with effort or even character but rather a given and sure promise based solely on being a child. Of course, parents could squander the future inheritance, and children could choose to turn down an inheritance or squander it after the fact, but no one could "earn" what could only be gifted. The expectation for the inheritor was to make and perpetuate life on what was given her or him, taking full advantage of what is theirs because of the relationship.
Martha's issue is not that she was a doer. Martha's frustration stems from the fact that she was "distracted" (v. 40) from what was hers to enjoy fully: a portion of God's life that invited her to lay down her anxious toil, to cross the societal boundaries keeping her from dinning as a child and not a servant, let Jesus (his life and words) shape her expectations of life with God, freeing her from the fear of losing what "will not be taken away."
Why can we "present our bodies as living sacrifices, holy and acceptable to God" (Rom. 12:1), offering our day, lives, and selves wholly to our Father without anxiousness and fear? Because our lives are lived (made and perpetuated) on "a better portion which will not be taken away" because it was gifted, not earned; given because of familial relationship, not our ability or lack thereof. So, what is distracting you from taking full advantage of what is yours because of the life, death, and life forever of Jesus? That's the question the story of these two sisters, two friends, and followers of Jesus, compels us to ask each other as fellow friends and followers of Jesus.
May our asking and answering free us to sit and listen at the feet of Jesus, following him into actions of our day, joyfully confident that we can make a life, good, because of the portion we've received.
Love you, faith family! God bless.